The rise of the solar photovoltaic “prosumers” has the potential to transform the centralized electric utility model that has served the world for over 100 years into a more decentralized and interactive system. In some countries it is now more cost-effective for households to produce their own power from PV than to purchase electricity from the grid. However, a prosumer “revolution” under which decentralized adoption of PV occurs on its own, in the absence of supportive policies or regulatory conditions has not yet arrived. Self-consumption of solar PV is a growing trend globally, but its expansion remains within policy makers’ ability to control… and develop.

This new IEA-RETD report provides a comprehensive overview of prosumer related aspects: It analyses the influence of economical, behavioural and technological drivers as well as national conditions for prosumer growth. It provides policy makers with detailed analysis on the potential benefits as well as costs and risks in order to articulate the justification for prosumer-related policies. Finally it discusses the different forms that PV prosumer policy strategies can take based on the evaluation of drivers and national objectives.